


Do You Really Think I Am That Hard Up For A Date?

by Angel_Dawn_Nimbus



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Blind Date, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22548682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus/pseuds/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus
Summary: Maddie keeps trying to set Buck up on blind dates. Eddie never came to the 118, instead he was recruited by Station 6. Once Hen and Chimney hear about these blind dates, they start taking their own turns at setting Buck up.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 15
Kudos: 540





	1. The Blind Dates

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a blind dating AU that I came up with. Decided to try something a bit new. 
> 
> If anyone has any prompts, they'd like for me to write, let me know on here or on Tumblr I am getting stuck for ideas. My username is: angeldawnnimbus

Buck and Maddie were having one of their usual Buckley nights. Maddie had been trying for the last half hour to convince Buck to go on a blind date she had set up for him. She knew that her brother wasn’t picky with his dates as he defined himself as Pansexual; he was open to pretty much anyone he felt a connection to. Maddie knew he was lonely, she decided it was her job as big sister to help her brother along.

“Maddie come on. Seriously? Do you really think I am that hard up for a date?"

Buck knew he was sulking, but he didn’t care at this moment. He didn’t want to go on some stupid blind date his sister set up. He could find his own dates. He wasn’t looking for anything right now. He was too busy with his job he had only just gotten back to recently. Being a firefighter demanded a lot of his time. He couldn’t commit to blind dates.

“Buck. I know you are lonely. I just want to see you happy."

“I’m not lonely." Buck snapped. Buck knew he was lying to himself. He came home every day to an empty apartment. There was never anyone to greet him. There was no life in his place. It was just somewhere he could sleep, eat and shower. It wasn’t a home. He hadn’t had one of those since he was a child.

“Please Buck. Just one date." Maddie pleaded with him.

It wasn’t going to be just one date.

**Ali:**

Maddie had set Buck up on a date with a young woman called Ali who she met at her gym. Buck would supposedly get along well with her. In Maddie’s words Ali was completely Buck’s type. What did that even mean? Buck’s type was everyone.

Buck walked into a coffee shop and saw the woman Maddie was telling him about. She had dark brown, shoulder length straight hair. She was pretty, Buck would give Maddie that.

“Hi. Ali?" Buck hesitantly walked up to her. Hopefully, he found the right woman. This would be awkward otherwise.

She smiled politely. “Yes. Hi. Evan?" She stood up. She already had a cup of coffee sitting in front of her on the table.

He would have to politely excuse himself to order his own cup.

“You can call me Buck. Or Evan if you prefer. Either works." Great. This was awkward already.

“Evan it is then." Before Buck sat down, he quickly but politely excused himself to order a coffee then made his way back to Ali while he waited for the drink to be made.

“What is it you do, Evan? Your sister didn’t tell me much other than she was setting you up on a blind date and needed a candidate if I was interested. She then showed me a photo of you."

Great. Thanks for this, Maddie.

“I’m a firefighter for the LAFD." Well, no shit Buck. You are in Los Angeles. Of course, it’s was going to be for the LAFD.

This was already starting off badly.

The Barista called out Buck’s name, and he went to collect his coffee and sat back down with Ali.

Ali perked up at the knowledge that Buck was a firefighter. As they talked about his job and what it entailed, she had been curious about what he actually did on a day-to-day basis. He told her about the fires they were called out to. The weird cases they had been called out to during one full moon. Mainly about the time where they delivered babies at a prenatal yoga class. Evacuating people in a high rise after the 7.1 earthquake. Turns out they had actually met each other before that day. Ali just had blonde hair then, and he had been more focussed on the rescue than on the faces of the people he had actually been rescuing.

He told her about being crushed by a fire truck and how he had fought every day to get back into fighting shape to get back to his job. She dimmed a little. She wasn’t expecting him to be putting his life in danger and getting seriously injured that he almost lost his life. Buck didn’t understand her. They had originally met in a collapsing building. What was she expecting his life as a firefighter to be like?

She then closed herself off from him. She was barely giving him any attention anymore. What did she expect? That he just rescued cats from trees every day? Being a firefighter wasn’t an office job, sure he had paperwork to do, but he wasn’t sitting around all day. He was out in the field saving lives.

If she would not give him the time of day anymore, he was just going to politely leave. He wasn’t going to waste his time on someone who essentially made him feel like his job wasn’t worth doing because all he did was put his life in danger.

“It was nice seeing you again, Ali. But this isn’t going to work for me. You are essentially demeaning my job. Something I am proud of doing. So, this isn’t going to go any further for me. Sorry for wasting your time."

He smiled politely at her and turned and left the café. Maddie owed him big time.

Buck called Maddie. As soon as she answered he started complaining that she picked sucky blind dates.

“Maddie you suck. It was awful." He started the walk back to his Jeep. Why did he even agree to this blind date anyway?

_“What do you mean it was awful? You must be exaggerating. She was a nice woman. What did you do?"_

Maddie all but screamed into the phone.

“What did I do? You mean what did she do. She basically told me my job wasn’t worth it because I was putting myself in danger. Oh, turns out. I actually knew her. We met in during the earthquake. I was the one who ended up rescuing her."

Buck unlocked his Jeep and hopped in. He just wanted to go home and relax before his shift later.

“I’m sorry, Buck. Hopefully, the next one will be better."

“Hang on. Next one?"

**Taylor:**

Maddie was forcing Buck to go on another blind date.

He has no idea how she met this one.

Taylor didn’t seem like the type of person his sister would hang out with.

Apparently, Taylor was a reporter who hadn’t managed to move passed reporting on gridlock.

Huh, that’s where Buck knew her voice from.

Buck was really uncomfortable on this date. Taylor seemed to be staring him down. Not in a sexual way either. It weirdly seemed like she had a murderous look her eyes. Yeah, Maddie is terrible at picking dates for him. He didn’t want to be murdered today.

Yeah, Buck was going to bail before she took him back to her lair and ended up chopping him into pieces and sending the remains to his sister. That seemed like something Taylor would do. He was a little terrified of Taylor. Ok, maybe a lot terrified.

His imagination was going a little wild today.

_

“Maddie, I don’t want to go on another blind date. You are actually terrible at setting me up."

Buck was sitting at the dining room table at the fire station. He was praying they would get called out. Hen and Chimney were watching him try to convince his sister that he didn’t need to go on another blind date.

Just because Maddie was happily dating Chimney doesn’t mean that Buck needed to date anyone.

“What happened with Taylor?" Maddie can’t be that bad at setting her brother up. Could she?

“She looked like if I said one wrong thing, she’d murder me. Literally."

“You’re exaggerating. She wouldn’t have killed you."

“Maddie you didn’t see her eyes." 

“Anyway… I have someone I think you’ll get along with really well. I work with her. She is a little older, but I think you’ll really hit it off."

“Maddie, I don’t want to go on anymore blind dates."

“I’ll do anything you want. Just go on this last date."

“I’m going to regret this."

“Thank you. I’ll text you the details."

Buck hung up the phone and groaned. He face planted the table. Why did he agree to this? That’s right because he’s an idiot who doesn’t know how to say no to his sister.

“We’re allowed to set you up on blind dates?" Hen asked Buck, bewildered.

“No!"

**Abby:**

Buck was actually really getting along with Abby. But they weren’t clicking in the romantic sense. It was more like catching up with an old friend.

There was a bit of an age difference, that wouldn’t have bothered Buck at all in the long run, but he just wasn’t feeling it, and it seemed that Abby wasn’t feeling it either.

“This is a bit awkward isn’t it?" Abby chuckled. They could be great friends they just wouldn’t suit each other romantically.

“A little, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t get to know each other. Make the most out of this. What is something you always wanted to do but never did?"

“I’ve always wanted to travel. My Mom died recently. I’ve been meaning to go, but something has just been holding me back."

Abby told Buck about how her mother had Alzheimer’s and had died one night peacefully in her sleep. Abby found her the next morning. She had been lost ever since.

“I’m sorry about your Mom. I think you should go for it. Travel. See the world. Make the time to see everything you ever wanted to. You seem like you are a bit stuck here at the moment. Maybe during your travels you’ll be able to find yourself again."

Abby looked unsure. She didn’t seem to be the type of person to do anything spontaneously. That might be the problem. She was stuck in a never-ending cycle that she didn’t know how to get herself out of. She just needed a push in the right direction.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it in a long time. Maybe I should just hold of for a bit longer."

“Hold off for what exactly? What is keeping you here? If you leave it for too long, you’ll never end up going. You’ll always regret it if you don’t. What is the first place you think of that you want to visit?"

Buck knew he was being a little pushy. But if he didn’t Abby would just go back to her normal life and just stay lost.

“Ireland."

“Then book it. When you get home. Book a flight and go from there."

They exchanged numbers. Abby was going to message him once she had booked her ticket.

“I hope you find everything you are looking for Abby."

_

Maddie called Buck first this time.

“ _How did it go?"_ Maddie sounded hopeful. She really wished that she got it right this time.

“It was nice. I told her to book a flight to Ireland to do some travelling."

_“Buck you are supposed to want a potential partner close. You aren’t supposed to send them away."_ Maddie grumbled.

“Maddie she isn’t happy here. She has always wanted to travel. I just gave her the excuse to go." 

“If you say so. So, I may have another one I can line up for you." Maddie spoke slowly. Hoping that her brother wouldn’t outright reject her proposal.

“Maddie. No. I am done with these stupid blind dates."

_

“Hey Buckaroo. I have a date lined up for you." Hen called across the fire house loft. Other firefighters looked over at him curiously.

“Did Maddie put you up to this? I already told her no."

“We thought since Maddie wasn’t having much luck setting you up. We thought we’d give it a try."

“We?"

**Casey:**

Hen and Chimney had set Buck up with a firefighter from the 115. They all knew that Buck was Pan. It wasn’t like he was hiding it from them. He wasn’t ashamed of being himself.

He met up with Casey at a bar. The man was sweet.

What Hen and Chimney hadn’t told him was that Casey had just gotten out of a serious relationship.

“I don’t know why I agreed to this," Casey whined mournfully. “Sorry Buck. It’s nothing against you. It just seems like Hen wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying. She knows I’m gay and single at the moment. But she doesn’t know the circumstances behind the end of my relationship." Casey drained his beer and flagged down the waitress to get another.

“I actually get it. No matter how many times I tell my sister or Hen or Chim. They never listen to me. How hard is it for them to understand that I could find my own partner if I wanted to?"

“You said it brother."

Casey was actually someone he could hang out with outside of work. Buck didn’t really feel anything other than friendship for Casey. He might have to crash Hen and her first responders support group/get together for drinks she goes to once a month. In return for being made to go on this blind date.

“Tell me about these blind dates you’ve been set up on. While we're both complaining about the people in our lives."

Buck rolled his eyes and told Casey about the blind dates that Maddie had set him up on. Especially Taylor. She was actually scary. Luckily Buck hadn’t run into her again. She knew where he worked. He prayed she wouldn’t show up one day out of the blue looking for him.

Buck had to call it an early night. He had an early shift in the morning. Casey wanted to stay at the bar to get drunk. Buck hesitated about leaving. That wouldn’t have been very responsible of him to leave Casey all alone. He didn’t want to leave Casey by himself wallowing in self-pity about the end of his long-term relationship.

He found out the bartender knew Casey, and that they were friends. Buck went up and expressed his concern about leaving Casey. The bartender waved him off. He’d make sure Casey got home safely. Also, would make sure Casey didn’t drink too much. Casey had an afternoon shift tomorrow.

_

Buck arrived for his morning shift at the 118, he was ambushed by Hen and Chimney almost immediately.

“How did it go? Did you guys hit it off?"

Buck pulled on his uniform. If he didn’t answer their questions, they wouldn’t leave him alone.

“It was great hanging out with Casey. He is a cool guy."

“What? No. It was supposed to be a date. Not a guys hang out."

“Hen. Did you maybe think to ask Casey if he was ready to date again? He has only just gotten out of a long-term relationship?"

Buck closed his locker and went up the stairs to have breakfast.

“Shit. That’s right. I completely forgot about that. I really need to apologise to him."

"How could you forget about that? It seemed to be all he could talk about last night."

Hen slumped down into a chair and fired off a text to Casey.

“Buck. If I set, you up on one more blind date. Will you go if I promise we’ll never set you up again? Including Maddie? We’ll also leave you alone about your love life."

“I’m listening."

“His name is Eddie. He was actually supposed to be assigned to the 118, but instead station 6 got hold of him. I think you two will be great together."

Chimney pleaded with Buck. Out of everyone the others had set Buck up with, Eddie would have always been Chimney’s first choice to set Buck up with.

“One more."

**Eddie:**

Buck was meeting Eddie for lunch. This was the only free time they had off at the same time. It turns out Eddie’s schedule was a little crazy for some reason.

He saw Eddie waiting at a table; he was nervously playing with his cutlery waiting for Buck to arrive.

“Eddie?" Buck stood in front of the table watching the man with dark brown hair which was fluffed up. It made Buck want to touch it. He had stunning hazel eyes. Eddie was a beautiful man. He didn’t want to thank Chimney prematurely. But so far Buck liked what he saw. Let’s hope he and Eddie hit it off.

“Hi. Evan Buckley?" Eddie stood up and held out a hand for Buck to shake. Buck clasped their hands together. Buck didn't want to let go, but that would have been weird.

Eddie didn’t really know what to expect when Chimney called him up out of the blue saying he wanted to set him up on a blind date with a fellow firefighter.

Eddie had heard a lot about Evan Buckley from Chimney over the last year. Especially about the trouble he seemed to get himself into. He had wanted the chance to meet him, but they had never crossed paths.

“You can just call me Buck. Everyone does."

“Uh Buck. Full disclosure. I have a son." If Buck didn’t want anything to do with him after finding that piece of information out, Eddie was just going to leave. Christopher would always be his top priority.

“Really? I love kids. What’s his name?" Buck sat down across from Eddie. Out of all the dates Buck had been on, this blind date with Eddie was the one that Buck felt right at home with.

“Christopher. He’s eight." Eddie pulled out his phone and showed Buck a picture of Christopher.

“And super adorable." Buck’s heart melted. It was only a photograph, but he could feel the joy Christopher brought to his Dad’s life radiating from the photo.

“I love this one. I’m all he’s got. His mother’s not in the picture."

_

They had ordered lunch and ended up staying at the restaurant for hours. The waitresses were watching them waiting for them to finally get up and leave.

He saw Maddie trying to call him. He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Eddie.

“You could have answered that."

“She can wait. It was my sister trying to check in."

What would Buck’s life be like if Eddie had joined the 118?

He definitely would have been jealous of him at the beginning. Eddie told him that he used to be an army medic in Afghanistan before returning to Texas, he had been feeling lost in Texas and he decided to up and move himself and Christopher to Los Angeles to become a firefighter.

Buck hoped he’d get to work with Eddie one day on a call. There was something about Eddie that made him think that they would have been best friends who became lovers.

“I don’t know if you remember about eight months ago a firefighter had been crushed underneath the 118 ladder truck."

“Yeah, I heard about that. You guys must have been terrified for that guy."

“That guy was me."

Eddie was not expecting that. They had never released the name of the firefighter on the news. He heard his co-workers talking about it, but they never said a name either.

Chimney had told him that Buck had been out on medical leave for a while. Eddie hadn’t clicked that Buck had been the firefighter caught under the ladder truck until this moment. Chimney would whine to Eddie about the substitute they had gotten until Buck’s return. The team hadn’t been a fan. The firefighter had tried to take over as Captain whenever Bobby had left the room. They hadn’t lasted long. Athena had overheard when she had come to visit the station one day. 

Eddie had met Athena once or twice on a call. She was quite a scary woman.

“I have no idea what to say to that."

“I have a titanium road and four cobalt chrome screws in my leg to show for it. Along with a multitude of scars left over from the surgeries."

“And yet you still fought to get right back to work?"

"This job is all I have. It is a huge part of my life."

"You must have other things outside of your job." 

“I have nothing else, really. I mean, there's my sister and the rest of my team, but there's no one to come home to. It took me five months to fully heal, but then I had a setback. Pulmonary Embolism. I started back at work nearly two months ago."

“I swear you need someone watching your back all the damn time."

_

“Did you want to do this again sometime?" Buck asked softly. Buck knew Eddie had more to lose than him. Eddie had to think of Christopher. Buck definitely wanted to meet Christopher whenever Eddie would give him the chance.

“I come as a package deal. If you won’t accept that." Eddie trailed off.

“Eddie. I don’t mind that you are a single parent. I want to meet Christopher if you’ll let me, of course. I’ll take whatever you both are willing to give me."

“How about we include Christopher in our date next time? If he wants to obviously. We could take him to the park next time?"

“Looking forward to it."

_

They had exchanged numbers and went their separate ways. Buck felt like a part of himself was now missing after Eddie had left his sight. At least he has an excuse to see him again now.

Buck called Chimney to thank him for setting him up with Eddie. He owed Chimney. Chimney found him what he never knew he had been looking for.

“How did it go?"

Chimney answered on the second ring. He was holding his breath waiting on tenterhooks. He had a lot riding on this blind date. He firstly hoped that Buck would be happy with Eddie. He had known Buck had been lonely for a long time.

“Chimney, I love you."

“Wait seriously? It went well?"

“We’re seeing each other again in a few days. We’re taking Christopher to the park."

Chimney sighed in relief. It had actually worked.

“Can I rub that in Hen and Maddie’s faces?"

“Dude, you can have all the bragging rights."

Chimney hung up and yelled through the fire station.

“Hen! You owe me fifty bucks."


	2. Meeting Christopher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the request of a few people I have expanded the story. It is 5 chapters long now. Enjoy it.

Buck had been nervous ever since Eddie had set up the time where Buck would meet Christopher for the first time. The plan was to meet Eddie and Christopher at the park tomorrow. Buck didn’t know how the whole thing would go. Would Christopher even like him once they met in person?

Christopher seemed to be excited about meeting another firefighter from a team other than his Dad’s.

Buck wanted to be able to talk to Christopher about some of the calls he went out on. There were some stories Buck couldn’t tell Christopher about, they were sometimes a bit much even for Buck. He especially didn't really want to tell Christopher about being crushed by the 118 ladder truck after a bomb hit it. He didn’t want to be the one to upset him.

“Buck would you stop pacing." Hen threw her sponge at him to stop him in his tracks. They had been paired up to wash the truck together. It was a slow day they hadn’t gotten as many calls as they usually would. They were taking the time to clean and restock the trucks before they got too overwhelmed with calls. 

“What the hell, Hen!" Buck looked down at the now large wet patch on his uniform. The sponge had soaked most of his shirt and dripped onto his pants.

“Can I have my sponge back?"

“What? No. You’re the one who threw it at me. Why should I give it back?" Buck grumbled and continued cleaning the truck.

“Because you’re being an idiot. You’ve already spoken to Christopher, and he already adores you."

Buck glared at Hen. After the rest of the team found out about how well the blind date with Eddie had gone, they had been hounding him ever since. Well, Chimney and Hen that is. Bobby tried to stay out of it, even though you could tell he really wanted to get in on the action. He was trying to be the responsible adult. They were just eager for Buck not to be alone anymore. They all knew how lonely Buck had been and they just wanted him to be happy. Setting Buck up with just anybody didn't make him happy. Being set up with Eddie had made him happier than they had ever seen him. 

He pretended not to hear her. Leave him to be anxious in peace. Don’t get him wrong, he was excited about meeting Christopher properly. When Eddie called him the other day, Christopher had stolen the phone out of his Dad’s hand wanting to speak to Buck.

Christopher had essentially interrogated Buck about his job. Even though his Dad had the same one. They had different calls, of course. It wasn’t very often that houses would work together, except on natural disasters, large fires and large pileups where they needed to divvy up the work. Buck answered every question patiently before Eddie made Christopher hand him back the phone.

Eddie had apologised profusely about Christopher interrogating him. He had just been so excited to talk to a new friend of his Dad’s.

Christopher had told Buck that his Dad didn’t have many friends outside of station 6, even then he wasn’t that close to them. He could understand that. Not the not being that close part. Outside of the 118 Buck didn’t really have any other friends. His sister didn’t really count. Nor did Athena. It was hard to make time for other friends outside of work. It was a bit sad, really.

He couldn’t really remember the last person he hung out with outside of work that wasn’t a blind date his sister or his team had set him up on. 

He could see Eddie becoming one of his best friends, but he wanted more, and they only had met a few days ago.

The station house alarm started blaring. There goes their quiet day. Buck and Hen quickly moved the buckets and sponges out of the way, grabbed their gear and jumped into the truck. Well, Hen headed to the ambulance.

Buck would have to try not to panic before tomorrow.

_

Buck was just getting off shift and was heading to the park to meet Eddie and Christopher. He was quite tired but there was no way he would miss seeing Eddie again and getting the chance to meet Christopher. At least he had the next two days off to recover.

Eddie had sent him a text letting him know what park to meet them at. Eddie and Christopher were already on their way to the park when Eddie had sent the message, they’d probably end up beating him there. He would more than likely end up being stuck in traffic. 

Traffic was crazy for this time of day. Eddie told him not to worry about having lunch, he was bringing a picnic for the three of them to share at the park. Bobby had asked Buck if he was staying for lunch before he headed home. Hen had cut in and told Bobby that Buck had a lunch date with Eddie and Christopher to get to. That had just opened him up to more teasing.

Finally, Buck pulled into the parking lot of the playground/park he was meeting Eddie and Christopher at.

From his spot in the parking lot he could see Eddie sitting on a bench watching Christopher on the playground. Eddie had an actual wicker basket sitting on the ground in front of him as well as a checkered picnic blanket.

Buck turned off the Jeep and hopped out, grabbing his phone and wallet on his way out. He sauntered over to Eddie with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t know what else to do with his hands. He was here now, there was no turning back.

“Eddie." Buck spoke softly from just behind Eddie. He didn’t want to speak too loudly and startle him.

Eddie turned around quickly, and a grin appeared on his face, Eddie jumped up off the bench to greet Buck. Eddie threw his arms around Buck in a quick hug in greeting.

“Hey. How was your shift?"

“Long. Why are people such idiots?" Buck sat down on the bench next to Eddie and watched Christopher on the swings.

“Tell me about it. I’ve seen ridiculous things out on call. Sometimes it is hard to believe people can actually be that stupid."

Christopher looked up then and saw a man sitting next to his Dad. They seemed to be talking to each other. He couldn’t see the expression on his Dad’s face from this distance, but he seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Christopher pulled himself off the swing and grabbed his crutches. He started to make his way over to his Dad and the man he thought was Buck.

“Hey Mijo. You finished on the swing?" Eddie had turned his attention onto Christopher who was coming their way.

Christopher ignored his Dad and turned his attention to Buck.

“Are you Buck?" Christopher breathed excitedly. His eyes lit up with delight.

“Sure am, Little man. It’s nice to meet you finally." Buck slid off the bench and crouched down in front of Christopher. He stuck his hand out for Christopher to shake.

Christopher shook Buck’s hand in greeting and used that hand to start pulling Buck in the direction of the swings. Buck laughed and stood up. He followed Christopher over to the swings and helped him on.

Buck started to push Christopher on the swing. “Did you put out any fires today, Bucky?"

Buck’s heart melted. He hadn’t been expecting Christopher to give him his own nickname.

Buck laughed. “Not today, but last night we put out a small fire. Someone had knocked over a barbeque and set their lawn on fire. Luckily, no one was hurt."

Buck didn't know if he would have told Christopher if anyone had been seriously hurt. He didn’t know how much Eddie would tell Christopher about the calls he went on. Some of the calls they went on were hard to talk about. Some calls broke Buck. He would always find it hard to let go of some calls. Even the advice Athena had given him about once he took off his uniform he could let go. It was never that easy. Sometimes he wishes it was that easy, but he wanted to stay himself. A person who felt every emotion fully he didn’t want to turn the switch off.

“That was silly. How did they do that?"

Christopher seemed to be enjoying Buck's company. Buck was standing behind him pushing him. Eddie was still sitting on the bench watching Buck and Christopher together.

“From what I heard someone wasn’t looking where they were going and walked into the barbeque, pushing it over."

“He needed to watch where he was going."

“Some people just get too distracted to pay attention."

Christopher decided he had enough of the swings and wanted to go down the slide with Buck. Hopefully, Buck would fit going down the slide. He didn’t want to have his team called out to get him out.

Turns out Buck didn’t get stuck on the slide. They went down a couple of times together before heading back over to Eddie for lunch.

“Sorry for stealing your son away." Buck joked. They walked over to an empty section of the park and lay out the blanket.

Eddie handed Christopher over his drink bottle and then handed one over to Buck. Eddie had made sandwiches and a fresh fruit salad. There were also carrot sticks and a few other small healthy snack foods.

“Bucky?"

“Hmm. Yeah Superman?" Buck was lying back on the blanket with his eyes shut. He was enjoying the sunshine. He just hoped he didn’t end up falling asleep.

“What do you like to do for fun?" Buck smiled and sat up. He stretched his arms over his head and turned his attention to Christopher.

“Uhh." Buck had to wrack his brain for a moment. What did he actually do outside of work?

“I like to read. Play video games. You and your Dad need to challenge me sometime." Buck wasn’t the best at video game, but he liked to play with other people instead of on his own.

“My sister seems to like to drag me out of the house, we try to get together just the two of us once a month. I also volunteer at the hospital. I cuddle the babies in the NICU. I go once a week for a couple of hours. I always make the time to go. I’ve been doing it for over a year now."

Eddie had not been expecting that. Buck had said he loved kids, but he had no idea that Buck volunteered his time as a baby cuddler.

Eddie was sold on Buck already. He had been since their blind date. He had already fallen for him. This had just confirmed what he had already known. Eddie had to stop himself from blurting it out and embarrassing himself. This was only their second date.

_

They spend the next couple of hours playing with Christopher at the park. From the corner of his eye he could see that Buck was fading. He must be exhausted after coming off from shift but was too polite to say so.

“Hey Mijo. It’s time to head home. We have errands still to run." Eddie wasn’t actually lying. They did have errands to run, but he knew that Buck wanted to head home and sleep.

They packed up their stuff and brought it back to Eddie’s truck.

Buck had crouched down in front of Christopher saying goodbye.

“We’ll organise a hang out soon, I promise." Christopher shyly asked for a hug and Buck held out his arms with a grin on his face. Eddie watched them from his position by the truck.

He was glad that Christopher and Buck were getting along. If Christopher didn’t approve of Buck, he would have cut off contact no matter how hard it would have been.

Christopher walked over to Eddie to get help to climb into the truck. Christopher buckled himself in. Eddie turned to Buck and held his arms out.

“Do I get one, too?" Eddie wiggled his arms. Buck grinned and stepped into Eddie’s embrace.

“Are you alright to get home safely?" Eddie whispered in Buck’s ear.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll text you once I’m home." Buck squeezed Eddie once more then stepped away.

“We’ll make plans for another date soon?" Eddie questioned hesitantly.

Buck grinned in return. “Looking forward to it."


	3. Eddie and Buck Meet Up On Call

Watching Eddie with Christopher while at the park you could tell he was struggling. It seemed he had too much on his plate and it was just spilling over. He needed help. Not that he was going to ask for it. 

Buck had been planning on getting in contact with Carla to see if she had any recommendations on care for Christopher. Buck could tell Eddie was struggling with finding the right care for Christopher but wouldn’t ask for help, he didn’t even like asking his own family for help. He had been relying heavily on his Abuela, but Christopher needed more specialised care.

Buck had met Carla out on a call. She had gotten into a car accident with her husband Howard.

Buck and Carla had hit it off. They had become friends after the accident. They tried to keep in contact. They’d go out for lunch occasionally when they both had the time free. Carla was the one to help Buck get into the volunteer program at the NICU. Him being a firefighter with medical training also helped move things along.

Buck thought she’d work well with Eddie and Christopher she had the right attitude to keep Eddie in line, but also the kind heart to help with Christopher’s needs.

_

The alarm started blaring throughout the station. Seconds before that each member of the team received a natural disaster alert. A tsunami had hit the Santa Monica Pier. Buck’s heart sank. It wasn’t going to be a good day. Tsunamis were destructive. They didn’t care what or who they were taking out. They were going to be finding a lot of casualties today. It was going to be a day that stuck with them for a long time. 

It would be a long, trying day. They'd have to keep going no matter how much they wanted to breakdown. 

They made it to the outskirts of the tsunami zone. It was search and rescue. Those were the orders command had given them. They had to be split off into different teams to prioritise cases. Buck was told he was on rescue. Keep people alive. That would be a hard thing to do when he had to keep his head and ignore everything else. 

They had paired the 118 up with station 6. Buck ended up in a boat with Eddie. This wasn’t the sort of call Buck had ever thought he’d be working with Eddie on. At least they’d have each other for support. There were also a couple of other members of Eddie’s team. Powell and Daniels, they had introduced themselves as. They had loaded the boats up with gear and headed off.

Their orders were to go further out into the impact zone. They had to surpass people waiting in the water for rescue. People had tried to flag them down for rescue. It was hard enough having to ignore them to keep going. Other boats were on their way, they just had to wait another couple of minutes. The boat Buck was on needed to get out further into the impact zone quickly. They didn’t know how much time people had. Other lifeboats were following close behind and would rescue the ones they had to leave behind.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?" Eddie spoke loudly into Buck’s ear. You couldn’t hear a lot over the roar over the engine.

“Never. I’m originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania. We never had anything like this."

Powell slowed the boat when they came across their first rescue task of the day. A young man had his leg caught on something in the water and couldn’t move. He was being tossed a little by the motion of the water but other than that he could get himself free. 

Buck prepared himself for the chill of the water before jumping in to assess the situation. Eddie had jumped in after him to help. It wasn’t a one-person job. Eddie held the man still while Buck dove under the water to find out what tools they needed to get the man free.

Buck came up and gasped for air. “He’s tangled up pretty tight with fishing net and rope. It will probably be faster if I get down deeper and sever the rope down there. Then we can fully free him on the boat."

Daniels handed Buck a knife to start with. Buck pulled on a headlamp and turned it on. Buck took a deep breath then dove back under. Buck made his way down the rope and found a safe spot to cut. Buck started running out of air, he had to come back up then try again.

“Almost got it." Buck muttered breathlessly, then dove back down. The water wasn’t warm. He could feel the chill through his uniform. He would definitely need a hot shower tonight.

Buck found where he had cut before he cut through the rest of the rope. Buck swam back up to the surface he handed the knife back to Daniels and helped Eddie get the man to the side of the boat where he was pulled up. Eddie made Buck get pulled up next.

Once they were all on board, they tried to get the net and rope off the man’s leg.

“What’s your name sir?" Buck took the knife back from Daniels and cut away the net.

“Justin." He choked out.

Eddie was assessing the situation. He was checking there weren’t any major injuries that they needed to take care of urgently. It didn’t seem like there were any at the moment. Eddie then froze when he noticed a cut on Justin’s leg.

“Wait. It’s cut into his femoral artery. We need to get back now!" Eddie yelled urgently. They needed to get the bleeding under control before they lost him. Powell started the boat back up and raced back towards the shore. Hopefully they’d be able to make it in time. Who knew how long they had left until Justin bled out?

Buck and Eddie worked quickly to cut the rope and net off his leg. They needed to get tourniquet around it and fast. The rope and netting weren’t helping, they needed to get it out of the way.

Adrenaline was pumping. Justin was trying not to pass out from the blood loss. They don’t know how long he had been bleeding in the water. They tried to keep Justin awake. They knew how bad it could get if he passed out. 

“How far out are we?" Buck called urgently. They didn’t have enough time. They were losing him. Buck and Eddie looked at each other worriedly.

“Two minutes."

“Firefighter Buckley to Command. We are two minutes out. We have a patient with a nicked femoral artery. We need immediate assistance."

“Copy that Firefighter Buckley. On standby." Buck sighed in relief. Eddie was putting what pressure he could on the wound. They had managed to get a tourniquet on Justin’s thigh to help slow the bleeding. They had done all they could. It was now time to hand him over.

As soon as they reached the designated area, they were rushed by Hen another EMT Buck didn’t know. Justin was handed over to be stabilised then sent off to the nearest hospital.

They quickly emptied the boat of the aftermath of Justin’s case. They couldn’t really do anything about the blood until later. They’d just have to wash the boat out later. They headed back into the wreckage to find others that needed their help.

_

Luckily, their next few pickups weren’t as dramatic. They had just had to pick up people waiting for rescue. It was a miracle that some of these people weren’t more hurt. Buck was cleaning a cut on a young woman’s face. It wasn’t too deep, but who knows what was in the water. They wanted to be able to stave off any infection they could.

“How about after this we swap numbers and get together sometime?" The young woman fluttered her lashes. Buck could see Eddie freeze from the corner of his eye. There was no way he would’ve said yes to this woman. He had already fallen hard for Eddie and even more so for Christopher.

“I’m flattered, but I’m seeing someone." Eddie seemed to relax and continue treating another patient. They were headed back to command to drop these few off.

“She won’t even know." She tried to push a little more. What was with this woman? They were in the middle of a natural disaster and she was asking for his number.

Buck cleared his throat and looked over at Eddie and back to the woman flirting with him.

“He definitely already knows." Buck gestured pointedly over to Eddie. Buck and Eddie smiled shyly at each other. Eddie got back to work cleaning a cut on another person. 

She clammed up and turned red. Well, that was awkward. Eddie was trying not to laugh. It was a little funny. But they still had the rest of the ride back to the drop off zone.

Powell and Daniels started laughing, they did try to cover it up with coughs though to be fair.

_

They were next called to assist evacuation of a Ferris Wheel. They hadn’t been given all the details, but they were sending out a few additional rescue boats. They were told as they got closer that the Ferris Wheel was unstable. They had to evacuate the victims and fast before the entire thing collapsed.

In the boat next to them was Chimney, Bobby and a couple of members from station 6.

Bobby radioed Buck saying that there was a man with a neck injury on top of the Ferris Wheel. That was their top priority. It seems the man was paralysed. They got as close to the Ferris Wheel as they could. Buck clipped one of the ropes to his harness ready to scale the wheel with Eddie right behind him following to assist.

Buck froze. He started to think of the night of the rollercoaster accident. This was not the rollercoaster. Buck still sometimes got the occasional flashback about that day. It was one of the calls that still stuck with him. Eddie tapped Buck’s leg gently to let him know that he was there for support. Buck started climbing the frame of the wheel. Eddie was right behind him.

Buck called down to Eddie to distract himself. “Enjoying the view from down there?"

Buck only just heard Eddie’s laugh. “It’s alright I guess. Seen worse." Buck shook his head laughing breathlessly. This wasn’t the time to laugh. He shook himself and kept climbing. The motion of the waves kept rocking the wheel. Buck froze. He tightened his grip.

“You doing alright up there?" Eddie called out. Buck took a deep breath and kept going.

“Getting there, babe." Buck finally got to the right car and heaved himself in. He turned to help Eddie up. They began to assess the situation. Buck radioed down to Bobby to get the necessary equipment.

“Buckley to Captain Nash, we need a backboard and C-Collar up here."

“Copy that, Buckley. Sending them up to you." 

Buck leant a little over the edge to help haul up the equipment up, while Eddie assessed the damage. They needed to get the man stabilised and off the Ferris Wheel fast. It was going to go down any minute.

Buck hauled the backboard over and lay it beside the man. Buck carefully adjusted the cervical collar around the man’s neck. He and Eddie then carefully eased the man onto the board and buckled him in.

They needed to attach the ropes to the board to help bring the man onto one of the boats.

“Buckley to Captain Nash. We’re coming down.” The stabilised the ropes and eased the man over the edge. Buck and Eddie started to ease the man closer to the boats. They had to move quickly, but they couldn’t release the rope too fast. They couldn’t jostle him too much. They didn’t know the extent of the damage to the man’s neck. Too much jostling could make the situation worse. They each let a bit of rope go at a time. What felt like hours was really only a minute.

Buck attached the woman to his harness as she clung onto him, he made his way off the Ferris Wheel and back down to the boats. Eddie was moving quickly. They could feel the wheel shift as they moved.

They were safe back on the boat. They started to race away from the wheel that had just started collapsing.

“That was cutting it close."

_

Buck needed a hot shower and his bed. He was exhausted. It had been a long day. They had made it to one of the field hospitals. All of the 118 had been accounted for as had station 6.

Not every first responder had made it out unscathed. Captain Ronnie Cooper from Station 136 had his arm cut off with kitchen shears. Athena had found him trapped and the only way to get him free was to cut off his arm. She had been a bit shaken up.

Clean up was going to be horrible tomorrow.

_

Buck was saying goodnight to Eddie. It had been a long day for all of them. Eddie was eager to get home to Christopher.

“Come home with me," Eddie breathed. He had his forehead pressed to Buck’s. “I need to know that you are safe."

They had a few close calls today. Buck had nearly been washed out to sea when the water was receding. He was trying to rescue someone trapped and nearly got washed away himself. Luckily Eddie had grabbed him before anything bad had happened. They couldn’t save the man who was trapped though. He ended up drowning before they could rescue him. They had to bring his dead body back to the field hospital. It had hit Buck hard.

“Are you sure?" Buck didn’t want to intrude. He just wanted a hot shower and a warm bed. Seeing Christopher would be a plus though after the day they had.

Christopher was at Abuela’s house. Eddie was meant to pick him up on his way home.

“Yes. I don’t want you to be alone right now."

They caught a ride back to station 6. Eddie would bring Buck to the 118 in the morning ready for their clean up shift.

Eddie started his truck and started the journey to Abuela’s house. Buck was about to fall asleep. They were both exhausted. He needed to call Maddie and let her know he was safe.

Buck pulled out his phone and pulled up Maddie’s contact information. She answered on the second ring.

_“Evan?"_

“Hey, Mads. How are you doing?"

_“Sad. It was a long hard day. I ended up with a couple of dead-end calls."_ From the tone of Maddie’s voice Buck could hear that she had been crying.

Buck wouldn’t tell Maddie that he had nearly been washed away. She’d more than likely freak out and want to come see him.

“I’m sorry Maddie.” Buck didn’t know what else to say. He knew what those types of calls were like. There was never anything you could do.

“We had a couple of those today as well." Buck’s chest tightened. He could feel tears prick at his eyes.

_“I really hope you aren’t alone right now."_

“I’m not. I’ve been working with Eddie all day today. I’m heading over to his and Christopher’s."

_“Call me tomorrow. Love you Evan."_

“Love you, too Mads."

Eddie reached for Buck’s hand and squeezed it tightly. They had only been on two dates, but he knew that he didn’t want to be without Eddie and Christopher.

They’d work it out.

_

Buck had a hot shower at Eddie’s and Christopher had demanded that they all sleep in the same bed. Christopher wanted to keep them safe. They hadn’t told Christopher any specifics about what happened today. He could sense something had almost happened and didn’t want to let either of them out of his sight.

Not when they had finally found each other.


	4. We Need To Go See Buck

“We need to go see Buck." Christopher all but demanded. Christopher had grown attached to Buck since the day they met in the park for the first time, maybe it was even before that when Christopher spoke to Buck over the phone for the first time. Whenever it was, they seemed to have a connection.

Christopher knew that Buck and Eddie were dating. Once Eddie had told him he had started dating Buck, he was really excited. He loved Buck, and he wanted to spend more time with him. 

“Is that so?" Eddie looked at Christopher from the stove. It was Eddie’s day off. He finally had a day off after the chaos from the last couple of weeks.

“He’s your boyfriend. You need to spend time with him." Christopher was colouring in while waiting for Eddie to finish cooking breakfast. Christopher saw his Dad blushing.

“He’s not my boyfriend." Eddie mumbled. Not that he didn’t want to be. He definitely wanted to be Buck’s boyfriend. If they ever got around to talking about it.

“Why not?"

“Because it’s not something we’ve talked about yet."

“We need to go visit him at work. Then you can ask him about you being his boyfriend.” Like it was that simple. It was probably that simple. They did just need to talk to each other. They just needed to find the time to actually get a full conversation in without getting interrupted.

Now that Christopher had decided their plans for Eddie’s day off, they needed to get ready to ambush the 118.

At least it was the weekend and Christopher didn’t have school. They would have to make it a quick visit if the team got called out. Eddie knew as firefighters they didn’t get a lot of downtime before they get called out. Christopher had been hounding Eddie about visiting the 118 for days this definitely wasn't the first time. This was the first Christopher had mentioned Buck being Eddie's boyfriend though. He wanted to see the station where his Bucky worked.

Eddie had enjoyed, well enjoyed was the wrong word. He worked well with the 118. Working with the 118 during the tsunami was seamless. He was definitely in sync with Buck on the job. He never found that with anyone else he had worked with before. It was a hard day that day with everything that had happened. Working with the 118 made it easier to handle. It seemed he clicked a lot more with the 118 than his own crew. Maybe he had made the wrong choice when choosing a station to work at.

Eddie gave in and packed Christopher into the truck and they headed off for the 118. He knew what a station could be like when they get busy. There usually wasn’t enough time to entertain visitors. It was usually chaos. Even between calls there was restocking the trucks. Cleaning the ambulances. They always tried to get downtime in but it wasn’t always possible.

_

They walked into station 118. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, but they parked the trucks and the ambulances in the building. They mustn’t be on call at the moment. They just weren’t on the lower floor. Eddie could hear voices coming from the loft, Eddie pulled Christopher into his arms and carried him up the stairs. As they walked up the stairs, the voices got closer.

Eddie could see Chimney sitting at the table with Hen. One paramedic who he had met during the tsunami who had taken Justin off their hands. Bobby wasn’t in the room, he must be in his office doing necessary paperwork that came with being a Captain. He could see Buck resting on the couch. Eddie smiled. Buck looked so peaceful.

“I hope we aren’t interrupting."

_

It had been two weeks since the tsunami had hit. During the first week after the tsunami, it was search and recover. There were a lot of bodies to recover. By some miracle they had actually found a few survivors waiting to be rescued, even days after the tsunami.

Buck hadn’t seen Eddie or Christopher in a few days. He had been wanting to see them, but they had just been too busy with the tsunami clean up along with other calls that had come up. It has been chaotic.

They were finally getting a break after their last call. Buck was resting on the couch listening to Hen and Chimney talk. They were bickering about something, who knew with them.

He had finally gotten a hold of Carla. He planned to set up a meeting between her and Eddie in the next couple of days. He needed to talk to Eddie about it. He didn’t want to make Eddie angry about Buck overstepping. He didn’t want to overstep, but he just wanted to help relieve pressure off Eddie in any way he could. Maybe he should have spoken to Eddie first before contacting Carla. Well, it was done now. He just had to see if Eddie wanted to meet her.

Buck could hear footsteps coming up the loft steps. It was probably Athena coming to visit the team on her downtime. She would usually stop by and have lunch with the team, before heading back out and sometimes joining them on calls.

“I hope we aren’t interrupting." That was Eddie’s voice. Buck’s eyes flew open, and he sat up quickly. He had been wanting to see Eddie and Christopher. He just hadn’t been expecting them to stop by. 

“Bucky!" Christopher made his way over to Buck excitedly and threw himself into Buck’s arms, hugging him tightly.

“Hey Superman. I was actually just thinking about you. We need to have another adventure. What about the zoo?" Buck was still a little wary of water after almost being washed out to sea. He would have suggested the aquarium, but that was too much water. The thought of open water had been giving him some anxiety. Showers were fine. Luckily, he didn’t have a shower bath. 

He looked over at Eddie who had gone over to Hen and Chimney. Eddie had been welcomed by the team quickly. It seems Eddie was the missing part the team needed, not that Eddie was joining the team. It’s not something he’d do on a whim. Bobby had heard the commotion and come out of his office to investigate.

Buck lay back on the couch with Christopher in his arms. He was ready to try to have a nap, but he wanted to spend as much time with Christopher and Eddie as he could until they were called out.

“Nap time." Buck sighed and pulled Christopher tighter to his chest.

“Bucky. No," Christopher laughed, trying to pull away. “Daddy save me!"

“I think you have it handled there Mijo."

Eddie seemed so relaxed here. It seemed like he was more at home here than at station 6. He didn’t know if Eddie would transfer stations. Even if they could work together while in a relationship. He didn’t know what the protocol was for co-workers in any form of relationship here at the LAFD. He had never come across that issue. Technically, Eddie and Buck were only just dating. They weren’t even on the same team, anyway. They hadn’t managed to put any other label on it yet. Not for the lack of trying.

Buck wanted to have that conversation soon. Definitely not in front of his team. They already interrogated him after his dates with Eddie. It seems the team were just as invested in his love life as he was. He didn’t want to give the team any more ammunition to tease him with.

Hen and Chimney were now taking the time to interrogate Eddie. Ha, Eddie was now in the hotseat instead of Buck. If Buck was nice, he probably would step in, but it was nice not being the one getting ribbed for once.

“Let’s leave your Dad to get interrogated. Let’s go explore the station." Buck lifted Christopher into his arms and made his way down the loft stairs.

“You’re just going to leave me here?!" Eddie called out after them.

“It’s your turn now to be interrogated."

_

They ended up having to cut the visit short. The alarm had gone off, signalling that they had a call to get to urgently. They rushed through their goodbyes to Eddie and Christopher. Before running downstairs to the trucks, Christopher made Buck promise that they’d go to the zoo soon. Buck would make sure he would find the time to make a day trip of it for the three of them. Maybe they’d even invite Hen, Karen and Denny along. Maybe even all the 118 and their families. 

Eddie told Buck to come over after shift for dinner. Eddie pressed a kiss to Buck’s cheek before Buck hopped into the truck. Buck’s cheek flamed. At least Hen and Chimney were heading to the scene in the ambulance so they wouldn’t mock him for blushing.

_

“Daddy you didn’t ask him." Christopher scolded. Wow, Eddie was being told off by his son.

“I didn’t get the chance. Buck is coming over after his shift, I’ll ask him tonight."

_

Buck was just leaving the station to head to Eddie’s.

_Do you need me to bring anything?_

He could easily stop off somewhere to pick something up for dinner if Eddie needed him to.

**Don’t worry about it. Dinner is cooking xx.**

Buck smiled and started the drive to Eddie’s. How was it that Buck and Eddie hadn’t properly kissed yet? It wasn’t for the lack of trying. They were always getting interrupted.

_

Eddie heard the Jeep pull into the driveway. Christopher excitedly made his way to the door to let Buck in.

“Bucky. Finally!” Eddie could hear the clacking of Christopher’s crutches as he made his way towards Buck. Eddie was pulling dinner out of the oven. He had made a lasagne, garlic bread and a salad. There were days he still struggled to get Christopher to eat his vegetables. No matter how he hard tried to hide the vegetables in food, Chris always knew and tended to refuse to eat what was put in front of him.

Chris was definitely picky about some vegetables and it got frustrating. Eddie would always have to find something else for Christopher to eat so he wouldn’t starve.

_

They had just finished dinner. Christopher ate all of his salad without kicking up a fuss. It seemed he wanted to be like Buck in that sense. Buck tended to start off eating some of the vegetables first. Then alternating between each component of the meal. Eddie saw Christopher copy Buck’s eating methods. Eddie wasn’t going to put a stop to it if it was getting Christopher to eat his vegetables without complaint. He'll count it as a win.

Christopher excused himself to go pick a movie for them to watch before bed.

“I wanted to talk to you about something."

This was it. They were finally going to talk about where this relationship was going. It was about time. Eddie’s heart started racing in anticipation.

“Yeah. Ok." Eddie cleared his throat then turned his attention fully to onto Buck.

“I have this friend of mine that I met on a call." This wasn’t going the way Eddie thought it was going to go. Was Buck seeing someone else?

Eddie must have looked puzzled; Buck was quick to explain himself. “She’s a home healthcare aid. I don’t want to overstep at all, but I’ve noticed you’ve been struggling a bit with finding the right care for Christopher. I know you hate having to rely on Isobel all the time. I wanted to do this for you. You don’t have to hire her. I just wanted to set up a meeting with her that way you can discuss your options with her."

Buck stopped talking and let Eddie process all the information he had just given him. It was a lot. He didn’t know if this was overstepping, he just wanted to take the strain off his potential boyfriend.

Eddie sighed in relief; Buck wasn’t seeing anyone else. Eddie hadn’t ever thought of a home health care aid. He didn’t know if he could afford one. But there was no harm in meeting Carla. If Buck was recommending her, then she must be good.

“When should I be ready for this meeting?"

At least Eddie wasn’t mad.

“She’s actually great. She helped me set up my volunteering gig at the hospital. She is well connected. I think you and Christopher will get along with her. She doesn’t take anyone’s BS."

“Oh right, your question. Monday evening? If that doesn’t work, we can sort out another time."

“Monday evening should work."

_

“Now it’s my turn to ask you somethin-"

“Daddy, Bucky! Hurry up, you’re going to miss the movie."

“To be continued?" Eddie asked hopefully. He still needed at least a minute to ask Buck.

Guess it will just have to wait.


	5. Making It Official

This was actually getting ridiculous. How was it that Buck and Eddie kept getting interrupted every time they were about to talk about their relationship? It was like everyone didn’t want it to happen for them.

Buck was getting frustrated. They needed to talk before Buck actually went insane.

“Have you two made it official yet?" Hen questioned from her seat on the couch. Buck was about to join her for a race on MarioKart.

“No." Buck grumbled, sitting down next to Hen and grabbing a controller.

“And why not?" Buck was a dumbass sometimes but surely; he wasn’t that dumb. She knew that Buck and Eddie were basically in love with each other. Even if they hadn’t said it to each other yet.

“Because people keep interrupting..." Buck trailed off, giving her a knowing look.

“Oh my god. That was one time how many times do I have to apologise?" Hen felt guilty about having interrupted Buck at the barbeque last week. He had pulled Eddie aside and was talking to him in soft tones before she walked over and interrupted them.

“It wasn’t just one time. Throughout that barbeque a few of you managed to interrupt us."

“Who?" Hen would have known if anyone else had interrupted, but no one had said anything to her.

“Well, including you. There was Chimney, Maddie, Athena, Chimney again. Then Christopher accidently. Christopher has accidently interrupted a few times."

Oh my god. Buck and Eddie actually had zero luck. Well, the rest of the team didn’t help by constantly interrupting them.

“What’s the plan then?"

“I don’t know. At this point I just want to scream. I might actually end up doing that. At him. To ask the question. Or text If I am really that desperate. Which I kinda am”" Buck spoke sarcastically.

“I wouldn’t recommend that. You wouldn’t get very far if you yell at him." Hen laughed. She took over Buck in the race. He cursed and tried to catch up.

“I don’t know. We literally do not have time to have that sort of conversation."

“Have you ever just thought of making time? If it’s important, you’ll make the time to go and see him. I’ll even take Christopher for a few hours. Denny has been asking if they can have a playdate."

“You’re right. How’s tonight?" Buck started making plans. He just needed to get Eddie to agree.

“Tonight?" Hen was wary. That was last minute. Could they even get a reservation somewhere this late? 

“I’m going to ask him over for dinner."

That would do it.

“Buckaroo. Can you even cook?" When Buck first started at the 118, he didn’t really know how to look after himself. Bobby had been teaching Buck, but Hen didn’t know how far along Buck and Bobby’s lessons had gone. When they had last spoken about it, it hadn’t gone passed breakfast foods.

“Yes Hen. I can cook. Bobby has been very helpful in that respect." Buck sounded offended. Even though a couple of years ago he would rely on takeout. The extent of his cooking expertise was toast.

“If you say so. Let Eddie know what the plan is. Also make the suggestion about Christopher and Denny having a playdate while you have dinner."

Buck pulled out his phone and started tapping out a message to Eddie. Hen watched him. She had never seen him like this before. He had grown up. He had made a connection with someone; they all had wanted that for him. He wouldn’t say it, but she knew he was lonely. He went home to an empty apartment at the end over every shift. They all had someone to come home to. Even Maddie had Chimney. Who did Buck have before Eddie and Christopher? He had the 118 of course, but it wasn’t the same.

“Eddie will drop Christopher off to you on his way over." Buck muttered.

Buck and Eddie needed this. They needed that time together, to finally express what they meant to each other. Without interruption.

“Sounds good." Hen answered softly. She turned back to the screen and started up a new race.

_

Eddie was headed to Hen’s dropping Christopher off for a few hours while he had dinner with Buck. They needed to have this time together. Eddie had been getting frustrated with all the interruptions they had been having whenever they tried to talk.

He was grateful to Hen for offering to take Christopher even if it was only for a few hours. He knew that she probably felt guilty for having interrupted them at the barbeque. That wasn’t the only interruption of the night. It hadn’t ended there either. Every time they had made plans to talk something had always come up, or they were interrupted. It was actually ridiculous.

He pulled up to Hen’s house and jumped out of the truck to help Christopher down. Christopher was excited to be hanging out with his new friend, but he was also a little disappointed that he wouldn’t get to see Buck tonight.

Buck and Eddie needed this time together. They hadn’t been dating for very long, but they were both sort of lost about where this relationship was going. They hadn’t been given a chance to express their wants to each other.

Christopher walked excitedly beside Eddie as they made their way to Hen’s front door. Eddie was a little nervous about leaving Christopher with someone he didn’t know very well. He knew that Buck trusted Hen. Also, Hen had her own child and was a paramedic if anything went wrong. He just needed to relax and trust that Christopher would have fun. 

Eddie rang the doorbell and waited for someone to come and answer it.

It wasn’t Hen who answered the door but Karen, Hen’s wife.

“Hi Karen. It’s nice to see you again. Thank you for doing this."

“We’ve all been waiting a long time for Buck to finally find someone who makes him happy. If this is what it takes. We’ll have these playdates more often."

Eddie crouched down to hug his son. “I’ll pick you up later. Have fun with Denny. Be good for Hen and Karen."

“Love you."

Christopher made his way inside the house. Hen came up behind Karen.

“Good luck, Eddie. No more distractions." They waved him off. He turned and walked back to his truck.

It was finally time. No more distractions.

_

Buck was pacing around his apartment. He had put dinner in the oven. He had followed the instructions to the letter, even taking his time at tasting as he went along. He didn’t want to mess this up.

Everything had been prepped. Macaroni and cheese in the oven, garlic bread to go into the oven in the last fifteen minutes. He had even made a side salad to go along with it. He was now just waiting for Eddie to arrive.

Dinner would only be another half an hour away.

Buck was nervous. He didn’t know how tonight would go. He knew how he wanted it to go. He just didn’t know what Eddie wanted. He knew it was probably too soon to say he loved Eddie, but there was something about Eddie that had just thrown everything Buck had known about himself out the window. He was willing to take whatever Eddie was willing to give him. Even if they just stayed friends, he’d learn to live with it.

Buck had been so focussed on his thoughts that he hadn’t heard Eddie’s truck pull up.

The knock on the front door startled Buck out of his thoughts.

Buck’s heart starting racing in anticipation. There was no going back now.

Buck pulled open the front door and there stood Eddie. What was it about Eddie that always took his breath away?

“Hi." Buck breathed. He held out a hand for Eddie to grab hold of.

“Hello to you, too." Eddie clasped Buck’s hand in his own and stepped forward. Eddie leant forward and pressed a kiss to Buck’s cheek, feeling the rough stubble against his lips.

Buck cleared his throat. “Uh- Dinner should be ready in about half an hour. So, uh- Did we want to talk now or later?"

Buck’s hand started to tremble in Eddie’s grip.

“Buck. What’s going on? What are you scared of?" Eddie spoke softly, letting go of Buck’s hand and wrapping Buck in his arms.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what to do next." Buck was flustered.

“How about I start us off?" Buck nodded, his hands shaking nervously.

Eddie stepped even closer to Buck, cupping Buck’s face in his hands and finally connecting their lips. Like he had wanted to do from their first date.

Buck gasped. He hadn’t been expecting Eddie to just go straight in. He had always thought that they’d talk about it first, but this worked too.

Buck closed his eyes and pressed even closer to Eddie. His brain had shut off. His last thought he could recall was _finally._

_

They were now standing in the kitchen Buck had just put the garlic bread into the oven. He was watching Eddie from underneath his eyelashes.

They hadn’t really spoken much after that kiss.

“I want to be with you." Eddie blurted out, it seemed he had startled himself with that statement.

“I want that, too. You don’t know how many times I’ve almost said it. I really hate my family sometimes with their constant interruptions."

“Tell me about it. Are they really always like that?" Eddie stepped closer to Buck wrapping him in his arms. Buck pressed their foreheads together.

“They are, but you’ve gotta love them."

Buck brought his lips close to Eddie’s; he was about to kiss him when the oven timer screamed at them.

“I guess I’m just going to have to get used to them being around."

“Hey, they love you for me. I mean, Chimney is the one who set us up. I still owe him for that one."

Buck pulled away and grabbed the oven mitts. Buck set the dish of macaroni cheese on a pot stand.

“I’m in love with you."

Hang on. That was Eddie’s voice. Buck looked up and saw Eddie watching him.

“What?" Buck had always thought he was the impulsive one. He had thought he’d be the one who’d end up saying it first.

“Sorry- Uh wasn’t expecting that to come out."

Buck started laughing. He couldn’t help it. This whole thing had been ridiculous. They now knew where each other stood. Now Buck just had to say it back. Once he calmed himself down, that was.

Buck laughing set Eddie off. They were just standing in Buck’s kitchen laughing. How did they even get here?

Buck tried to calm himself down to respond to Eddie, but every time he tried, he just kept on laughing.

“Ok. Ok. Sorry. I love you, too, by the way if you hadn’t already got that."

“Oh shit. The garlic bread!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support on this story. I have a couple of one shots I need to upload over the next couple of days. I am also working on expanding my Buck is in hospital again one shot. That will only be a couple of extra chapters. 
> 
> I have a 12 chaptered story I have finished. It is sort of a rewrite of How Come We've Never Heard Anything About Your Parents? But with a lot of major changes. It isn't as long as that one it is just under 25k. It focusses more on Buck and Eddie's relationship. That will hopefully start going up soon.


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